Guynup scores 1,000th point v. Saranac

BEEKMANTOWN — Lady Eagles senior Kenna Guynup just had a good feeling when she went to the line at the end of the third quarter of her team’s 61-37 win over the Saranac Lady Chief’s Feb. 8.

“I don’t know what it was,” Guynup, who went to the line sitting on 999 career points, said. “I just had a really good feeling about the shot that it was going to go in. It was a nervous moment, but I just kept telling myself it was another ordinary free throw. ”

When it did, teammates rushed her as she became the newest member of the 1,000-point club.

Guynup then rushed into the stands to get hugs from family and friends.

“It was really fun and nerve-wracking,” Guynup said.

“She has had a good career,” head coach Greg Waters said after the game. “She was on the last championship team as an eighth grader and made a contribution to that team. She is a hard working player who made herself a product of our system and a product of what we want to do with our fastbreak and our halfcourt sets.”

The Beekmantown combo guard who needed 20 points to break into the quadruple-digit club, coming out firing early on and scoring 17 points in the first half.

“I didn’t know anything about it,” she said about putting up a half-court desperation shot that would have put her in the club at the second period buzzer.

“When I came off the court, a kid told me I was three points away. That’s when I started to get a little nervous.”

The Chiefs showed they were not going to make it easy on Guynup in the second half, as they went to a box-and-one defense with Janyll Barber taking on the responsibility of covering Guynup.

“They came out in box and one and did a good job defending her,” Waters said.

“It was a tough challenge,” Barber said. “I wanted to stop her and I wanted to make sure I prevented any penetration on defense. It’s intense but it is a fun challenge, but I enjoyed it.”

Barber was able to do keep Guynup off the scoreboard for the first six minutes of the half before the Eagles forced a turnover which went to Guynup, who was able to make a drive to the basket, score and draw the foul.

“They play really great team defense and they are coached well on that,” Guynup said of the Chiefs. “Janyll is a great defender and really fast. She was able to slow me down in the third quarter. I feel I was a little lucky to get the shot.”

“A lot of the scoring we do is on defensive effort,” Waters said. “That really has a lot to do with it and with that play.”

Guynup then hit the free throw, and the celebration ensued.

Following the hugs and timeout called by the Eagles, Guynup made her way to the bench with the game in hand and the 1,000-point designation secure.

For the Eagles, who are anticipated to be the top seed in the Section VII/Class B girls playoffs, Waters said the focus turns to getting ready for the postseason.

“We are going to put our focus on senior night now,” Waters said. “Then we need to keep focusing in. This is the dog days of February and we need to pick up the energy now and we need to be ready to peak in the near future.”

“Now that it is out of the way, me and my team can really start off and make our run,” Guynup said. “We are doing really well playing as a team. We have been together for so many years so we all have chemistry and we all know where we are on the court.”